Room for Rent and other rental scams
#395270 by Michelle Sat Aug 24, 2019 2:09 pm
Michael B <[email protected]>

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in my apartment, it is still available. I will try to give you as many details as I can regarding the apartment in the following email.

The full address of the apartment is 30 Peterborough St, Boston, MA 02215. Everything is just like in the pictures, fully equipped with all the appliances you need, very clean and well kept. The apartment can be rented furnished or if you want you can use your furniture and deposit mine in the storage unit. I work as an civil engineer and the company I work for has developed projects all around the world. Now, I have received an very good offer from them to move to the United Kingdom department, offer that I have accepted.

The apartment is vacant so you can move-in anytime you want, also my contract in UK is for the next 6 years, so for this period, I will not return 100%.

The rent of 1000$/month is for the whole apartment and includes all the utilities: heat, water, electricity, parking, laundry in-suite, washer and dryer also included, cable and internet. You will have full access to all building amenities. Just in case repairs are needed there, I will cover the costs, so no worries. The price I'm asking is below the market because I want to find a responsible tenant to take good care of the place.

I'm the owner of the apartment, it's already paid in full and there is no mortgage on it. You have everything you need near-by (public transportation, schools, groceries etc.). Also I love pets, so if you have any pets, I won't have any problem, pets are allowed. Honestly from point of view I'm sure that You'll love it for sure and rent it on spot.

I would like to know how many people will live in the apartment and also which rental contract do you prefer to start with - 6 months or 1 year with option of renewal?

Please let me know if you are really interested in the place so we can discuss further.

Thank you and look forward hearing from you!
Michael

PS: I attached you all the pictures that I have with the apartment (as you can see everything is in absolutely perfect condition).


This Scammer will arrange to send you an Invoice or notification -- Make no mistake, the document will be fake !
If you are reading this because you have received such an invoice or notification, kindly forward it to the address in my signature line and I will report the details to the appropriate authorities.

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#395447 by Mtt Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:39 pm
Hi Michelle, I am sadly to report I got the same email (you posted ) two days ago and a follow up response to it today as follows:

Hello,

First of all, I think that you noticed the monthly rent price, which is below the market. The reason for this, is because I already left US, I am now in United Kingdom and I cannot show you the apartment in person.

I tried to rent it before I had to leave, I found a tenant that promised he will take the apartment in 2 weeks, I waited for him, but when he had to pay and sign the lease agreement, he wasn't able to keep his promise, because he wasn't able to gather the money. Obviously this was a bitter experience, and because of this reason, I wasn't able to rent the apartment before I had to leave for United Kingdom. Me and my wife decided then, not to rent the apartment anymore, but in the meantime we managed to switch to better feelings and changed our mind.

Please note that all the keys are with me in United Kingdom, because we are overseas, and because of this bitter experience we previously had, I will rent the apartment ONLY by using an International Third Party company called Rently (rently. com). Look at their website as reference, but please know that you will not find my apartment there, as I need to initate the transaction before anything. I have used this company and their services twice this year, both times had a great experience, they are really professional and they have great services.

A few brief things about Rently:

They are an International company that provides solution for renters and property managers in a safe environment. Basically the both of us will be 100% protected using their services.
The service that we will be using is the SELF-SHOWING. So this means that Rently will take care of every detail of this transaction and you will receive the keys and go by yourself and check the apartment, before deciding of you want to rent it or not
Rently are in business for over 7 years and they are BBB Accredited since 2017
Along this period they had MILLIONS of customers.

Using Rently involves three parties: me as owner, you as a potential tenant and Rently as a responsible third party authorized to handle this transaction. Rently will handle everything, including paperwork, shipment of the keys and escrow services. Of course, nobody can take that money until you will inspect the apartment and sign the lease agreement.

I understand that this is not a conventional way to rent a place, but please keep in mind that the "reward" for following with the Rently transaction is a lower monthly rent. Also I will pay for all the fees that Rently will request for using their services. Please note that the Rently services are necessary only until you will inspect the apartment and sign the lease agreement, after that you can deposit the monthly payments directly to my bank account, or we can setup a payment method that is suitable for both of us.

Just in case you need it, my phone number is +447520 640833 (UK phone number) if I am not able to respond, I will do my best to call you back asap.

I am sure that at this point you have many questions, but please hold them a little longer until the next email. In the meantime, please look at Rently and LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE STILL INTERESTED IN THE PROCESS, so I can provide all the detailed steps of the transaction (I am sure that many of the questions you have now, will be answered after I will send you the steps). If you choose to continue, I will do my best to be as transparent as possible during the whole transaction.

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon!
Michael
#395448 by Mtt Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:44 pm
I have not answer it yet, as I decided to do some research first (as it seem to good to be true) and got the scammer alert by the email ([email protected]) and by other related items to the post as well.

Thanks for sharing.
Mt
#395507 by Arnold Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:47 am
Welcome to Scamwarners and well done for spotting it as a scam.
One word of advice. If you're using your real life email address just to gather information, stop. Set up a Gmail address with a different name and start again.
Rently is real, but not involved.

#395510 by Arnold Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:49 am
Welcome to Scamwarners and well done for spotting it as a scam.
One word of advice. If you're using your real life email address just to gather information, stop. Set up a Gmail address with a different name and start again. The risk is low but not worth taking.

Rently is real, but not involved.

#395581 by Mtt Tue Aug 27, 2019 4:14 pm
Hi Mitchelle, got another email today and as anticipated he is requesting two months rent money before providing the keys to see the apartment. I am going to include the response now and then include photo of “his passport” as provided.

From: Michael B <[email protected]>
Date: August 27, 2019 at 10:41:07 AM AST
To: (info deleted for privacy purposes)
Subject: Re: $1000 Trendy Studio in Kenmore


Hi again,

Like I said in my previous email, I will do my best to be as transparent as possible during the whole transaction, so to build up confidence and gain peace of mind, I had attached a copy of my PASSPORT to this email. Also please know that you will receive official documents from Rently also, before making the deposit to them.

Regarding the process, you will have to deposit the first month rent + last month rent, an total of 2000$ (1000+1000) to Rently, so they can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the rental package (keys and documents). Once you will receive the keys, you can go and inspect the apartment. Please know that I will pay for all the fees that Rently will take. (transaction and shipping fees).

Below I will explain step by step how the transaction with the Rently works, to avoid any misunderstanding please READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

1 - To start the process all I need is your contact information: full name, mailing address (street, number, city and postal code), cell phone number, move-in date and lease agreement preferred (e.g. 6 months or 1 year rental contract with option of renewal). The lease agreement will be a standard one from the government.
2 - Once I will have your contact information and your approval, I will go to the Rently office (UK) to start the transaction and I will give them the apartment keys and necessary documents.
3 - Rently will check everything, including the ownership documents, and if everything is in order they will proceed with the transaction. They will also confirm that I'm the legal owner of the apartment I'm renting to you.
4 - Rently will send you a notification (via email) where they will inform you that the keys and the documents are in their custody. Also they will send you all the steps, how to proceed and all the transaction details.
5 - At this point you need to send the amount of 2000$(1st month rent + last month rent) to the the Rently payments representative (lawyer escrow account) provided to you in the notification. THE PAYMENT NEEDS TO BE SENT WITHIN 24 BUSINESS HOURS AFTER YOU WILL RECEIVE THE TRANSACTION DETAILS OR ELSE THEY WILL CHARGE ME AN ADDITIONAL FEE.
6 - As soon as the payment is completed you need to send the payment details to Rently . (a copy of the receipt proving that you sent them the deposit).
7 - Rently will verify the payment and if everything is in order they will start the shipping procedures using UPS Next Day Shipping Service.
8 - You will receive the package (keys and documents) and you will have 5 business days (inspection time) to check the place and decide if you want to rent it.
9 - If you decide to rent the apartment you just need to sign the lease agreement that Rently sends, email it to them and they will release the funds to me. If after the 5 days inspection you will decide not to rent the apartment, Rently will refund the whole deposit.

PLEASE NOTE:
* Your deposit is INSURED by Rently, this means that if you will not sign the lease agreement for any reason, Rently will refund you the whole deposit, so you are 100% protected.
* They CANNOT release the funds without your approval, they can do it ONLY after you will send them the lease agreement with your signature. (after the 5 days inspection period).
* Rently will send you official documents (invoice, rental agreement and insurance document) BEFORE making the deposit to them.
From my point of view everything is safe and the reward for going forward with this process is big. Also, because it's a SELF-SHOWING process, I find it normal (common sense) that you need to make the deposit first, as a guarantee. I hope you share my opinion because I cannot modify the terms of the transaction in any way.

Let me know if you have the funds available (2000$) so we can move forward. If you do have the funds available and agree with the transaction steps, please e-mail me your full information (full name and address and cell number) so we can get the transaction started.

If you have any further questions regarding the transaction please let me know.

Waiting your reply!

Thanks
Michael

On Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 8:14 PM
(Sender deleted for privacy purposes> wrote:
Hello. Whats the apt number? Can we get the keys to see it this weekend? My husband will be in town until Tuesday sept 2.

Thanks

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